Measuring Individual Identity Experimental Evidence

" We have spoken to many people in this country [X], and they have all described themselves in different ways. Some people describe themselves in terms of their language, religion, and race, and others describe themselves in economic terms, such as working class, middle class, or farmer. Besides being [a citizen of X], which specific group do you feel you belong to first and foremost? " 1 What determines the identity category to which people feel they belong? What is the political significance of one's proclaimed identity? The answers to these questions are important for understanding phenomena such as policy preferences, social cleavages, and political conflict. To address such questions, scholars are making increasing use of national and cross-national survey items that ask individuals about their identity. The question that appears above is a representative example included in popular surveys used in political science research (such as the Eurobarometer, the International Social Survey Program, and the World Values Survey). The potential intellectual contributions of such questions are clear. They are a simple way of capturing respondents' identity attachments, and of providing information that is useful for explaining political outcomes of interest. For example, scholars have used identity survey data to explain people's preferences on issues such as tax policies, affirmative action, or political participation. 2 Some studies explicitly treat identity attachments as a causal factor explaining political preferences. For instance, Sean Carey finds " a clear indication that a strong national identity leads to a decrease in support for the European Union. " 3 Similarly, Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks describe identity as a " more powerful influence " than material interests in shaping attitudes on EU ascension. 4 However, a key problem with this approach is its assumption about the nature of attachment that people's identity responses convey. As James Fearon notes, both popular discourse and social science research use the term identity with two broad interpretations: first, as a " technical " term that denotes classification in a certain social 459